Boll-breaker and cotton-cleaner.



BOL. BREAKER AND CTTN CLE/HAIER,

APPLICATION FILED IIIII.

T. E, OHNSTON.

BOLL BREAKER AND COTTON CLEANER..

flPPLlcATmw' man Nov.

29, FMG.

Mmmm Heb.

3 SHEETS-S E. EUHNSON.

SGLL BREAMR AND Cowon CLEANER.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

THOMAS ELLIOTT JOHNSTON, OF AMETE, LOUISIANA, .ASSIG-NOR T0 GULLETT, GIN

COMPANY, 0F NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, A CORPORATION OF LOUISIANA.

IBOLL-BREAKER AND COTTON-CLEANER.

Specification of Letters lPatent. Patented Feb, 29521916.

Application led November 13, 1915'. Serial No. 61,372.

To all whom t wiay concern:

Be it known that I, Tnonas E. JOHNSTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Amite, in the parish of Tangipahoa and State of Louisiana,have invented certain new `and useful Improvements in Boll- Breakers andCotton-Cleaners; and I' do hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact descriptionl cf the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse thesame. I

This vinvention relates to breaks and gins, and more especially to ginfeeders; and the object of the same is to produce an improved machinefor breaking the hullsand removing them along with the dirt, and thenpicking and feeding'the cotton to the gin.

The present invention is an improvement on my prior Patent No. 985,037issuedv February 21, 1911, in which case the dirt and dust was` takenvfrom the cotton by pneumatic suction, but no provision was made forbreaking the hulls. In other devices the hulls have been broken and thecotton cleaned and picked, all while subjected to l and claimed, 'and asshown in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a central vertical section of the machine, and Figs 2 and 3arefront and rear elevations thereof. Fig. et is a perspective detail ofthe mechanism for setting the breaker board.

This entire machine' is housed within a framework 1 having at one end aninlet 2 and 'opposite-thereto an exhaust opening S communicating with asuction fan 4l, While the numeral 5 designates the outlet for the cottonand 6 the outlet for the hulls and other dirt which is not drawn out theexhaust opening Means not necessary to show are provided for carryingaway the -waste materiah'and the cotton outlet will also be connectedwith a gin bysultablcmeans. Across/the upper portion of the casing orframework is a trunk 7 ca rrylng a screen 8 beneath which 1s an inletpassage 10 Whose inner end is dciected and opens atv 11 against thelower si de of a boll crushing or breaking roller 12. A curved screen 13extends over this roller and separates it 'from the outlet portion ofthe trunk, which latter extends beneath the top of the casing to theexhaust opening 3, and the bottom 14 separates this portion of the trunkfrom theremainder of the mechanism. Underlying the breaking roller 12 isa slightly dshed corrugated breaker board 15 yieldingly supported. bysprings 16 which rest on brackets 17 within the housing. At the ends ofthis board 'are pins 18 loosely engaging loops 19. in the arms of a yoke20 whichserves as a lever andt is pivoted at 21 within the framework. A

handle 22 is connected to the-'stem of the yoke and extends downwardbehind a spring 23 within a keeper 24, the inner edge of this handlehaving a rack 25 thrown normallv into engagement with a tooth 26 by thespring .as best seen in Fig. 1, and it follows that by disengagmg therack from -such tooth and adjusting the handle the lever or yoke 20 -canbe rocked on its pivots 421 so that its loops 19 ldepress the board 15against. the tension ofthe springs 16 to interrupt the breaking actionwhich normally takes place by the ribs 27v on the roller 12 moving over.the corrugations on' the board 15. When the.

^ parts stand as seen in Fig. 1- the whole cotvton passing inward alongthe passage 10 will be directed between theV roller and the board, andthe bolls will be crushed, the fine leaf trash and particles of the bolllining being mostly' drawn through Athe screen 13 by suction and carriedout the opening 3.

v Beyond. and slightly below the boll break- I soA ing mechanism abovedescribed is a rotary' l valve designated as a whole by the numeral v30,- the same acting also as a feeder which conveys thev materialforward to the picking mechanism described below. This valve comprises anumber of blades 31 radiating from its shaft and each having a flexibletip 32 making close Contact with the cylindrical casing'33 whichli'asits: inlet at 34 and its outlet at 35,'and passage 1'0 is continuedbeyond the'roller 12in a passage 36 whose bottom 3T is fixed and standsadjacent the rear edge'of the board 15 and whose top 38 converges4toward the bottom and is shown in Y Fig. 1 as a'separate memberalthough it may A be part of the element 14 above described. The passage36 thus formed leads to the inlet 34 which communicates Withtheupperside of the casing 33, and the close fit of the 'l through the outlet35. fore serves asa valve to confine the suctionv tips 32 in such casingprevents the suction device 4 from drawing air through thlsro-v tatingmember which `therefore serves as a valve, while themovement of'itsblades in' the direction indicated by the arrow causesA lthem to take upthe material delivered from beneath the roller l2 and feed-it downwardThe element thereto the upper portion of the machine, and

also as a feeder' to carryI the material forn ward and downward.

The retarding mechanism is situated just beneathl therotary valve whereit acts. on the material passing through the outlet 35, and

as shown it consists of two rolls 40 standing side by side and rotatingtoward each other as indicated by thev arrows. The surfacevof each rollsis. corrugated, and its ridges are:

provided with radial pins 41', but the rolls are so situated that thesepins are some little distance from each other on the contiguous ordescending sides of the rolls as seen. lt is important that these rollsrotate some-A what slowly as will be described below. f v

The picking mechanism stands in 'the lower part ofthe main'framework andincludes three similar rollers 40 each having radial pins 4l so disposedthat they do not lap each other on the contiguous sides of the rollers,land a scalloped screen 42 underlying.

i `these rollers and carr1ed around the lowermost in what might becalled a breast screen 43 which extends up to the point 44 whereVV"the're'tarding rolls delivery the material to of the bottom may behinged or not as ,dei

sired. l prefer to employ three rollers as shown, -andthey rotate inthesame direction as shown by the arrows and at the same speed.

The driving mechanism is best `seen in Figs. 2 and 3. Power is ledcfroma suitable source t'o the driving pulley 50 which here shown fast on thcshaft 5l of the lower-most roller 40, and the shafts-of the variousrollers carry pulleys S2-which are connected by' belting 53 to causethemto move in unison as just stated. On the oppoai@ @ad of are aan 51,'(seegFi-g. s) is mounteda pulley '54.,conneeted by.' a cross belt 5K5with asomewhat smaller pulley 56 on the shaftf( of the breaking roller12,

i best seenin Fig. 3.` .i

'whereby the' latter is driven, slightly,l 3

higher'speed than the rollers ofthe picking mechanism. The shaft 58 ofthe feeder 4or y valve. 30 is mounted. at its" ezitremitiesl in bearings59carriedby-.spiders l( Owhich are detachably secured a't 61 to thefront and rear sides of the main casingpandone end as seen in Fig'. 3.vThisl belt leads arounda tightener 64and a small driving 'sprocket onthe driving shaft 51,and it also leads in opposite directions 1 aroundaf par-l of sprockets 66 fast on the shafts 67 of the rolls (1.

, 80 n i than the driving sprocket, with'the result 40. These4 sprocketsare 'somewhat 'larger that the rolls rotate .more slowly vthan the.

any picker roller, andfconsequently'they re-v lta'rd lthe I feed ofmaterial lto'. thel ypicking of this shaft carriesv a removable sprocketwheel 62 over which passes, a chain belt 63 y driving shaft and therefornioreslowly than mechanism. "lheA shaftsGS .of the other' picker rollersare mounted in bearings 69 as With this constr'uctiomthe -operation isas follows: The fan or suction devioe'4 having been set in motion and.power applied to the driving pulley 50, cotton is fed into the in'- let2 and along the passagev 10 of the tru-nk 7 in whichit is drawn gentlyupward toward the screen 8 and dirt and `dust extracted from it throughthe screen and passed out the opening 3. With the parts standing as seenin Fig. 1, the cotton enters the breaking or crushing mechanism wherethe bolls are crushed between theroller 12- and the breaker board 15,and the line leaf trash and particles of boll lining are'mostly carriedby suction th'rough the screen 13y and out the opening 3. The crushedbolls' are thrown by centrifugal action into the passage 36 and throughthe inlet 34 of the valve casing 33 into the feeder 30, whose bladesnot'only pass the material onward but soon ycarry it out ofpositionwhere the suction in the upper part of the machine has any effect" onit. For thisreason the feeder serves as a rotary valve, and as soon as'the tip 32 of its uppermost blade has passed the inlet opening 34' it iscarried along underl atmospheric pressure by the forward movement ofthis bladeg Delivered-through the outlet 35, the material now falls intothe retarding mechanism which consists of the rolls 40 rotating in thedirection indicated., and by the tearing or reforming action of thismechanism much of the dirt and foreign matter is removed from thematerial and permitted to drop, while any lingering connection betweenthe cotton and a particle of the boll is here disrupted. The materialnext passes downward within the breastscreen 43 and is acted upon by thelingers or pins of the lowermost-picker roller; these carry it acrossthe'lowermost scallop ofthe screen 42 and on the ascending side of thisroller deliver it soon as the material has passed into the' feeder' 30,it is free from the suction within the trunk 7 and thereafter all actionon the material takes place under ordinary atmospheric pressure.

lThe picking mechanism can be reached for cleaning or repair byswingingvopen the bottom 46 on its hinge 47, and when the lowermostroller 40 is removed this gives access to the rolls of .the retardingmechanism. The rotary valve or feeder can be Vreached by -removing oneof the spiders 60 and drawing the shaft 58 out of the bearing in theother spider and taking the entire feeder out of the casing. The roller12 may be reached by removing part of the top of the casing and liftingoil' the screen 13, and when this roller is taken out the breaker boardcan be reached.

,I Whenever it is desired to clean cotton which may have already beenremoved from its bolls, the rack 25 of the handle is disen gaged fromthe tooth 26 and the whole han dle moved so as to swing the lever oryoke 20 Aand cause its loops 19 to bear downward on the pins 18 and thusdepress the board 15: Hence this mechanism serves as a means foradjusting the position of the board when desired, and as a means forpractically thro'rf'` g the breaking mechanism out of action ..en theboard is adjusted to a considerable extent, though even then the ribs 27vwill serve to -feed the cotton in large or ysmall lumps forwardA overthe bottom 37 to the rotary valve 30.

What I claim is: 1. In a cotton boll breaker, the combinau tion with acasing, a chamber therein having one perforated wall subjected tosuction, and a rotating ribbed breaker roller Within said chamber; of acorrugated breaker'board uns derlying and spaced from the roller,lsprings pressing it normally upward toward said roller, pins in itsextremities, a movable yoke whose arms have loops elongated in adirection parallel with that in which the board is moved by saidsprings, and manually oper* ablemeans for adjusting the position oi theyoke whereby the engagement of the loops with the pins limits themovement of the board toward the roller but permits its movement awayfrom the roller, for the purpose set forth. .l

2. A boll breaker and cotton cleaner comprising a framework, a trunkacross its upper portion having an inlet at one end and its otherendconnected with suction means,

a screen in said trunk defining an inlet passage and extending over aroller chamber to 'which the passage leads, a rotating ribbed rollerwithin said chamber, a corrugated breaker board yieldingly mountedbeneath the roller, a circular caslng having inlet and outlet,imperorate walls connecting the outletoi` the chamber with the inlet ofthe cas ing, a rotary valve within the casing, and

cotton picking mechanism beneath the outlet of the easing. 3. In a bollbreaker and cotton cleaner,

the combination with a casing having a transverse cotton trunk withcotton inlet one end and suction means its other end, a screen Withinthe trunk arched over a chamber, and a ribbed breaking relier ttingWithin said chamber; oif a cor. Ligated breaker board underlying 'theroller, means for yieldingly supporting it, pins at its el;d

-tremities, a pivoted yoke engaging said pins,

a handle for setting the yoke to move 'the board from the roller, meansfor holding the handle in adjusted position, cotton picking mechanism,and a rotary valve between said roller and mechanism and separating thel latter irom the suction within the trunk.

4. In a boll breaker and cotton. cleaner, the combination with a casinghaving a transverse trunk with cotton inlet at one end and a suction fanat its other end, a screen within the trunk defining an inlet passageand arched over a chamber, and a ribbed breaking roller rotating withinychamber; of a corrugated breaker boei. enderlying the roller, springsfor yieldingly, supportingit, pins its extremities, ayoke having loopsloosely engaging said pins, means for setting the yoke to move the boardfrom the roller, cotton picking mechanism, and a rotary valve betweensaid roller and mechanism and separating'the latter freni the suctionwithin the trunk. In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

THOMAS ELLIOTT JOHNSTON.

ll Gli

